Sample Evaluation Checklist

Before You Open the Box: Set Up for a Fair Evaluation

Have your tech pack open before you unwrap anything, because you are checking the sample against the spec, not against your memory of the design. Print or open the measurement table, the BOM and the placement pages. You will also need a soft tape measure, a flat table, good daylight or neutral lighting, and a camera.

Log the basics first: date received, style number, sample round number, and which size was sampled. Photograph the sample front and back on a flat surface before you handle it heavily, so you have a clean record of the as-received state.

Plan to spend real time on this. A rushed thumbs-up on a flawed sample locks the flaw into hundreds of production pieces. Two or three days including a wash test is a sensible allowance, and it fits comfortably inside a normal production timeline.

Check the Measurements Against Your Spec

Lay the garment flat, smooth it without stretching, and measure every point in your spec table using the method written in the tech pack. Record the actual value next to the target and calculate the deviation. Anything outside your stated tolerance goes on the revision list.

Measure methodically in the same order as your spec so you do not skip points. Chest, waist, hem, body length, shoulder, sleeve, cuff, neck: each one measured once, written down immediately. If a measurement seems wildly off, measure again before recording, since flat-measuring technique causes more apparent errors than factories do.

Remember that a knit sample may relax or shrink after washing, so out-of-tolerance measurements on a pre-wash sample are not always final. Note them, then re-measure after your wash test and judge against the tech pack, which should specify after-wash finished measurements for knits.

Assess Fabric, Hand Feel and Colour

Check that the fabric matches the BOM: composition, weight and construction. If you specified 240 gsm combed cotton jersey, the sample should not feel like 180 gsm carded cotton. If you have a fabric swatch from sourcing, compare directly. Weight can be verified precisely with a GSM cutter and scale, or approximately by weighing the whole garment and comparing against similar products.

Evaluate hand feel the way a customer would: run the fabric between your fingers, hold it against skin, scrunch it and watch recovery. Check the inside surface too, especially on fleece and brushed fabrics. Note any roughness, thinness, or excessive stretch that does not recover.

Compare colour against your Pantone reference under daylight and again under indoor lighting, since some dye matches shift between light sources. Small deviations on a first proto are normal if the sample was made in available fabric; what matters is that the lab dip or bulk fabric colour is approved separately before production.

Inspect Seams, Stitching and Construction

Turn the garment inside out and inspect every seam end to end. You are looking for skipped stitches, loose or unravelling threads, puckering, raw edges that should be covered, and uneven seam allowances. Gently stretch each major seam to check that stitches do not pop, especially on knits.

Check the details that signal overall workmanship: collar symmetry, evenly attached cuffs and hems, aligned side seams, flat-lying neck tape, bar tacks where your tech pack calls for them, and zips that run smoothly without waviness. Count stitch density on a topstitched hem if you specified it.

Try the garment on, or put it on a fit model close to your target body. Fit issues such as tight armholes, twisted sleeves or a gaping neck are visible only on a body. Move around: raise arms, sit, bend. Note anything that pulls, rides up or hangs wrong.

• Inside-out seam inspection, every seam, both directions
• Stretch test on shoulder, side and sleeve seams
• Symmetry check: collar points, cuffs, pocket heights
• Hardware check: zips, snaps, drawcords, eyelets
• On-body fit assessment, not just flat measurement

Evaluate Prints, Embroidery and Branding

Measure each print or embroidery against the placement page: width, and distance from the stated reference point. Check colour against Pantone references, edge sharpness, coverage and opacity. On dark garments, look for an underbase showing at the edges of light prints.

Physically test decoration durability: stretch a screen print gently and watch for immediate cracking, rub embroidery to check tension and backing comfort, and inspect heat transfers for lifting corners. Scratch tests and the wash test below reveal most application problems.

Confirm every branding component from the BOM is present and correct: main label, care label content and language, size label, hangtag, and any neck print. Check that care label information matches the actual fabric composition, because mismatches here are a compliance problem, not just a cosmetic one.

Run a Wash Test at Home

Before washing, record the key measurements and photograph the garment. Then wash it at least three times following the care label, drying it as the label instructs. This simulates the first weeks of real customer use and costs you nothing but a few days.

After the final cycle, re-measure the recorded points and calculate shrinkage as a percentage. As an indicative benchmark, quality knits are usually engineered to stay within about 5 percent shrinkage in length and width; woven garments typically less. Check the print for cracking or fading, labels for curling, seams for twisting, and the overall garment for skewing, where side seams rotate toward the front.

Also watch the wash water and the other items in the load on the first cycle of strong colours; heavy dye bleed is a colourfastness failure worth flagging immediately. A home wash test is not a substitute for lab testing on bulk fabric, but it catches the majority of gross problems before you commit to production.

How to Give Feedback the Factory Can Use

Compile everything into one document per style: a table listing each issue with the location on the garment, what you observed, what the spec says, and what you want changed. Attach annotated photos with arrows and measurements drawn on. Number the issues so later conversations can reference issue 4 instead of the thing with the sleeve.

Separate must-fix items from preferences. A seam that pops under stretch is a defect; a pocket you now want 2 cm lower is a design revision. Factories prioritise better when they can see the difference, and it keeps the revision round honest about what was their error versus your change.

Update the tech pack to reflect every agreed change, increment the version, and send the pack together with the feedback document. Then confirm what the next step is: a revised sample, a pre-production sample in bulk fabric, or approval to proceed. Most styles need one to two revision rounds; budget for them in your timeline rather than being surprised by them.